Telephone-holder



(No Model.)

0. T. DIGKSON.

TELEPHONE HOLDER.

No. 411,588. Patented Sept. 24', 1889.

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CHARLES T. DICKSON, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

TELEPHONE-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 411,588, dated September 24, 1889.

Application filed March 15, 1889. Serial 1V0. 303,437. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES T. DIGKSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Telephone-Holders, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in holders for telephones, whereby the telephoneinstruments may be readily detached and carried from place to place, as occasion may require, the details and construction of which will hereinafter more fully appear.

In the telephones in ordinary use the telephone-instruments are permanently fastened to a wooden frame-work, and this frame is in turn fixed by nails or screws to the wall or wherever the instrument is to be used, the circuit-connections being mad e by wires entering at the back of the frame or holder. IVith this arrangement it is manifestly impracticable to remove the telephone for use from one place to another. Besides the inconvenience of unfastening the frame-work and disconnecting the wires, the ends of the circuit-wires have to be all properly connected together in order to close the circuit, which is broken by the removal of the apparatus.

The object of my invention is to make the telephone a portable instrument, so that by having proper wire connections with different parts of a building the telephone apparatus may be easily and readily disconnected at one place and carried for use to another place and there connected as readily and easily with another set of circ nit-wires. To accomplish this result I make my holder in two parts-a portable frame, to which the telephone-instruments are attached, and a stationary frame permanently fastened wherever the telephone is to be used, to which latter frame the circuit-wires are connected. By means of a switch the circuit can be at once closed upon the removal of the telephone and its portable frame,

The details of construction and arrangement of parts will more clearly appear by reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a front view of the telephone as in use; Fig. 2, a front View of the stationary frame; Fig. 3, a rear view of the portable frame; Fig. 4, a side view, partly in section, of the two frames; Fig. 5, a side view, partly in. section, of the stationary frame; Fig. 6, a rear View of a portion of the stationary frame; 7, an enlarged View of the spring-switch. Fig. 8 is a section 011 line .2: as of Fig. 3.

The telephone apparatus is attached to the frame A, a rectangular piece of wood of suitable length, breadth, and thickness. The three sets of binding-posts a a, b h, and c c, to which are connected the wires operating the telephone, are connected through the Wood with the screws or pins (Z cl, 6 e, and ff in Fig. 3. Between each set of these pins screws or pins 1;, Z, and m are placed. These pins extend out from the surface of the wood slightly beyond the pins d d, c c, and f f. A wooden cover or top 0 extends over the instruments, to which is attached a handle 72 for convenience in carrying.

In the stationary frame B the circuit-wires are connected in the rear with the brass pins 19 p, n n, and o 0'. These pins work loosely back and forth through the frame B. In the front of this portion of the frame three grooves or recesses are cut, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, corresponding to the three sets of telephone-wires. \Vithin these recesses are fixed three brass two-armed springs S, S, and S", The pins 19 p, n n, and o 0, connecting with the circuit-wires, extend outwardly through holes cut in the arms of these springs, the openings being out sufficiently large so that no portion of the springs will come in contact with the pins extending through them, as shown in Fig. 7. Each one of these connecting-pins is provided with a brass head r r, s s, and t 25', larger than the openings in the spring-arms, and the springs S, S, and S are so arranged that when the portable case is removed the spring-arms will press tightly against the under surface of the pin-heads, thus closing the circuit through each set of wires-the current of one set, for example, entering at 19, passing through p 'r, brass arms of S 'r' p, and out again. Thus when the telephone apparatus is disconnected the wire circuits will always continue closed.

The lower end of stationary frame 13 is provided with a projecting ledge or groove to receive the end of the portable frame, which is slightly beveled for that purpose, and the portable frame is securely locked in position on the stationary frame by means of the spring-latch L, which takes over the top of the cover 0. \Vhen the telephone apparatus is thus fastenedto the stationary frame, the pins 7c, Z, and m of the portable frame, extending, as they do, beyond the screws (1 d, e e, and ff, as shown in Fig. 8, come firstin contact with the springs S, S, and S", and, forcing them back, break the connection between the pinheads and the springarms. The screws d d, e e, andf f then come in contact with the pin-heads, and the apparatus is at once connected with the line-wires. The pin-heads r a", s 5', and t t are kept in close contact with the screws (1 d, e e, and f f by the actions of the springs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, which are-fixed to the back of the pins 1) p, n n, and 0 0, as shown in Fig. 6. In order to insure a perfect connection of circuit, the pins are of such a length that when the telephone is in place these springs will be pressed back, so that there is a constant pressure on the screws d d, c e, and f f by the pins.

The arrangement for switching the current by the springs S, S, and S as shown in the drawings, is intended to work automatically; but this automatic arrangement is by no means essential, as the closing of the circuit when the telephone and its portable frame are removed can be made almost as readily by a spring-jack or any other common form of switch, and I do not limit myself to the specific form shown.

The advantages of my improved arrangement for supporting the telephone apparatus are obvious. A house may be furnished with a number of stationary frames in different rooms having proper wire connections. Then when it is desired to remove the telephone from one place to another the telephone can be taken down and hung up again at a moments notice, the wire connections being adjusted automatically or by hand upon the change being made; or the telephone may be removed altogether from the house without any disfigurement or without otherwise injuring the premises, as is now usually the case when telephone-instruments are taken from a building.

With my improved arrangement buildings may be arranged at the time of their erection for the use of the telephone in much the same manner as they are now arranged with gas and heating pipes for light and heat.

Neat and ornamental frames may be fixed throughout the building, with abattery in the cellar and wires properly connecting all the different fixed frames, so that the telephone can be attached at a moments notice.

the day and taken up to the bedroom at night.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a telephone-holder composed of two separable parts, the combination of a stationary frame B, to which the circuit-wires are attached, a removable frame A, carrying the telephone-instruments, and a switch connecting the ends of the circuit-wires and normally completing the circuit on the stationary frame, arranged to be displaced, so that connection may be broken through the switch and made through the telephone by the action of a co-operating part on the removable frame when the two partsof the holder are joined, substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

2. In a telephone-holder of two parts, the combination of the stationary frame B, holding the line-wires, a removable frame A, carrying the telephone-instruments, and a springswitch on said stationary frame normally pressing against and connecting the ends of the circuit-wires, arranged to be pressed aside and automatically to break the circuit by contact with a co-operating member of said switch 011 the removable frame when the two parts of the frame are connected and automatically to close the circuit when the parts are separated, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In a telephone-holder of two parts, the stationary frame provided with a series of connection-pins, to which the line-wiresare attached, said pins having enlarged heads, in combination with metallic springswitches pressing against the under surface of the pinheads and arranged to be displaced by the portable frame on the joining of the two parts, substantially as shown and described.

4. In a telephone-holder of two parts, the stationary frame B, in combination with the pins 19 19, having enlarged heads, the doublearmed spring S, portable frame A, and pin 70, arranged in the manner and for the purpose described.

5. In a telephone-holder of two parts, the combination of the pins 1) p with the heads 4' 1', spring S, screws (2 d, and pin is, arranged substantially as and for the purpose described.

QHARLES T. DICKSON.

Witnesses:

ALFRED M. ALLEN, GEORGE I-IEIDMAN.

The telephone may be used in the office during 

